The lofty theoretical purpose of international competition is to recognize excellence and international cooperation. Sadly, these events more often serve the interests of governing elites, corporate sponsors, and political leaders, e.g., a destructive combination of corruption, cronyism, and commercialization.
These events and their organizers would be far better to draw on the three Cs of psychotherapy, namely: Awareness of the negative effects (“Catching”), evaluating behavior (“Checking”), and replacing with better behavior (“Changing”).
The Poor Records of Major International Competitions
The Sports World
The United States, one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries, is hosting two major international sports events: the current FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. Yet neither FIFA nor the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is headquartered there; both remain based in Switzerland despite years of corruption scandals. These include allegations of kickbacks in awarding major events, such as the 2015 criminal indictment and later acquittal of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, and corruption convictions of some IOC national committee leaders.
Both FIFA and the OIC wield enormous economic and political influence while operating as private organizations and have had shoddy pasts and dubious presents.
Cronyism and Patronage Networks
The governance structure of both organizations concentrates power among relatively small groups of officials who operate with limited public oversight. FIFA distributes development funds to more than 200 national football associations, a system that creates political loyalty and influences the organization’s major decisions.
Similarly, the IOC host city selection processes historically depend heavily on relationships between bidding committees and IOC members. Personal connections, hospitality, and informal networks often played a major role in determining outcomes. Although reforms have reduced some abuse, critics contend that insider influence remains important.
Commercialization
The FIFA World Cup generates massive funds from television rights, sponsorships, hospitality packages, and merchandising. Ticket prices have risen substantially, hospitality packages target affluent consumers, and tournament expansion has been justified largely on commercial grounds.
For the IOC, since the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, commercial partnerships have become central to the IOC’s business model, with reliance on sponsorship and broadcasting revenues. Los Angeles is again to host the summer Olympics in 2028 but already there are troublesome issues, including with its chairman, Casey Wasserman, who had ties with Jeffrey Epstein.
Political Manipulation and Sportswashing
Governments use these events to enhance international prestige, strengthen legitimacy, and overcome criticism, e.g., “sportswashing.” In the recent past, Russia and Qatar hosted the FIFA Cup to benefit in this manner. (It is unclear how the United States, Mexico, and Canada fare in this regard until after the final FIFA championship in July.)
Financial Burdens on Hosts
While pitched as a pathway to accelerate economic development, costs often exceed benefits, with FIFA and Olympic hosts spending billions of dollars on stadiums, transportation systems, airports, and security operations.
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Classical Music Competitions
The world of elite classical-music competitions has cultivated an image of purity: young virtuosos, impartial juries, and the noble pursuit of artistic excellence. But these last twenty years have shattered that illusion. Beneath the stages of Warsaw, Moscow, Brussels, and Fort Worth, the system is increasingly shaped by patronage, conflicts of interest, opaque jury practices, and corruption.
Winning the Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, or Van Cliburn Competition can transform a musician’s career overnight by bringing management opportunities, recording contracts, and international tours. With stakes this high, incentives to influence results have increased. Although scandals in classical music rarely attract the same attention as those in sports or politics, the underlying pattern is similar, as shown by the following examples:
Jury selection system: Conflict-of-interest rules adopted so far are cosmetic. A juror may be barred from scoring their own student, but they can still influence discussions, shape consensus, and reward the protégés of friends and allies.
Patronage and political influence: Classical competitions increasingly depend on wealthy patrons, foundations, and, in some countries, state cultural ministries. For example, the role of national politics was evident in the 2022 suspension of Russia’s International Tchaikovsky Competition by the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC), which cited “Russia’s brutal war and humanitarian atrocities in Ukraine.”
Electronic voting distortions: Livestreaming and online voting have helped classical competitions reach wider audiences, but they also create new opportunities for manipulation. Coordinated campaigns by national fan groups or conservatory networks can inflate support for favored competitors. Musicians with large online followings can shape public opinion, pressure juries, and draw donor attention, undermining the competitions’ meritocratic ideals.
International Competitions Need to Catch, Check, and Change Bad Behavior
Global competition can unite people across cultures and nations, but the immense money, prestige, and political influence attached to these events create incentives for corruption, cronyism, and commercial excess. Unless governance bodies are pressed to strengthen transparency and accountability, the gap between the ideals these events celebrate and the realities behind them will continue to grow.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: Olympic Torch Tower of the Los Angeles Coliseum on the day of the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles, California, United States, July 28, 1984. Cover Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
